3 Heller - Frederick I

Frederick I of Hesse-Cassel held the unusual distinction of ruling simultaneously as King of Sweden from 1720 until his death in 1751, making Hesse-Cassel one of the few German landgraviates governed by a reigning foreign monarch. His attention was frequently divided, and the administration of the landgraviate ran largely through officials in Cassel. Small copper heller denominations of this period were workhorses of local market trade, circulating hard through the mid-century economy of a territory perpetually entangled in dynastic politics and military obligations to larger powers.